1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to protective clothing for preventing injury to the wearer due to impact. More particularly, this invention relates to protective clothing for use in various adventurous sports or activities which require substantial freedom of motion, but at the same time pose significant danger due to falls from high altitudes or being propelled at high velocity into a solid object. Such high risk sports and activities include but are not limited to hang-gliding, mountain and rock climbing, parachuting, white water canoeing, race car driving and piloting of experimental aircraft. The protective clothing of this invention also, of course, has a great deal of potential for use in any other environment where a person might be injured by being forcibly thrown against another person or a solid object.
Protective clothing or garments manufactured in accordance with this invention could, of course, take various forms such as coveralls, jumpsuits, jackets, etc., depending on the type of activity and the parts of the body exposed to injury.
2. Prior Art
An investigation of the available references related to the field of protective clothing revealed no prior art that is significantly relevant to this invention. One reference, U.S. Pat. No. 1,105,569 issued to N. Lacrotte in 1914, is concerned with protective padding worn by aviators or motorists to avoid injury from blows from the steering wheel or other parts of the vehicle in case of an accident. The disclosed protective clothing is no more relevant (perhaps less) than modern day football padding or a crash helmet. The patent is entitled "Pneumatic Suit for Aviators" but there is certainly no teaching that the rubber core elements are "pneumatic" in the sense the term is used in the present invention. It would appear that each of the rubber core elements disclosed in the Lacrotte patent have been manufactured with permanently sealed air pockets, but nowhere is there any teaching of inflating the numerous air pockets at will. It will also be appreciated, of course, that this type of protective padding is cumbersome, heavy and bulky.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,159 issued to E. Alarco Dec. 29, 1970, does show an impact absorbing, lightly inflated padding or jacket for protecting persons in hazardous environments such as decks, cabins and cargo holds of ships and boats during rough weather. The structure of the padding disclosed in this patent includes a plurality of cell units which are connected by small passages such that air can flow slowly through the small passages from one cell to the next. This slow air flow results in the protective padding being somewhat flexible when subjected to relatively slow flexing movements. However, in the event of a sudden impact, the air cannot immediately move out of the affected cell units. Therefore, these affected cells remain initially in a resilient expanded state to absorb the impact but gradually collapse as the air continues to move from cell unit to cell unit. This type of protective clothing does not allow the unrestricted freedom of motion necessary for vigorous activity while it is providing protection.
There are, of course, on the market inflatable devices such as the well-known "Mae West" vest and other jackets similar to the type described in Bailhe U.S. Pat. No. 2,607,934 issued on Aug. 26, 1952 which provides safety in connection with water-related activities. However, the purpose of these devices is strictly for buoyancy in water and are not designed to provide protection from injury due to forcible impact. Two other patents dealing with pneumatic padding and garments include "Pneumatic Head Gear," U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,893 issued to A. C. Larcher June 29, 1974, which is somewhat similar to the teaching in the Alarco patent; and a "Pneumatic Coat" for providing warmth as described in the Kolb et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,608,690 which issued Sept. 2, 1952. Still other related technology is the concept of using air bags as packing between items of freight to avoid damage from impact during shipment. However, none of these references of devices in any way teach, much less incorporate the unique combination of elements taught by the present invention.